No one would dispute the notion that Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh is one of the better NFL and college football coaches of the 21st century.
But Colin Cowherd has a much higher title in mind for Harbaugh.
“If you combined it like basketball, and there was a Football Hall of Fame, you could count college and pro, I would make an argument today [that] the best coach within the historical past of soccer is just not Invoice Belichick or Invoice Walsh or Vince Lombardi, it is Jim Harbaugh, the best coach ever,” Cowherd stated on Wednesday’s version of “The Herd.” “He is by no means failed; he is 5-for-5. San Diego, Stanford, San Francisco 49ers, Michigan and the Chargers: he is by no means failed. [Nick] Saban and City [Meyer], unbelievable faculty legends [but] struggled within the NFL. He is additionally not tied to a single participant. What’s [Bill] Belichick with out [Tom] Brady? Not nice. The one individual that form of compares to him is Jimmy Johnson. Nice in faculty and nice within the professionals, however even Jimmy took over a program that had gained a Nationwide Championship, and so they gained after he left. After which he took over the [Miami] Dolphins, and the earlier two years, they had been 10-6 and 9-7 earlier than he bought there, after which he left after which Dave Wannstedt took over, and Dave bought them to the playoffs.
“With Harbaugh, he is taken over 5 messes. They’re all superb by 12 months 2, some by 12 months 1.”
The top-coaching path for Harbaugh started at San Diego, which went a mixed 29-6 beneath him from 2004-06, together with back-to-back 11-1 seasons. Then, it was off to Stanford, the place the Cardinal elevated its win complete in every of Harbaugh’s 4 seasons as head coach beginning in 2007, highlighted by a 12-1 marketing campaign in 2010.
Harbaugh then ventured off to the NFL, taking up the 49ers and serving to them go a mixed 44-19-1 from 2011-14. San Francisco made the NFC Championship Recreation in every of its first three seasons beneath Harbaugh, highlighted by reaching Tremendous Bowl XLVII.
Harbaugh went again to the collegiate scene to educate his alma mater Michigan, with whom he was a quarterback from 1983-86, in 2015. From 2015-23, the Wolverines posted a mixed 86-25 document, together with six 10-plus-win seasons, three School Soccer Playoff appearances and the 2023 Nationwide Championship. Harbaugh took over the Chargers shortly after the school triumph. In his first season on the helm in 2024, the Chargers went 11-6, made the playoffs and quarterback Justin Herbert posted a career-high 101.7 passer score.
“Harbaugh takes stuff, and someday it is ‘Bar Rescue’, and the subsequent day, it is Michelin Star,” Cowherd stated.
On the earlier than and after entrance, whereas Stanford posted dropping information in every of Harbaugh’s first two seasons as head coach (2007-08), it had already posted dropping information in every of the 5 seasons previous to his arrival; Michigan had a 5-7 season the 12 months earlier than Harbaugh took over and is 10-6 since his departure; the 49ers hadn’t made the playoffs since 2002 earlier than their first season with Harbaugh in 2011, and did not make the playoffs after his departure till 2019; the Chargers missed the playoffs in 4 of the 5 seasons previous to Harbaugh’s 2024 arrival.
To this point, Harbaugh has a 57-25-1 NFL head-coaching document (69.3% successful share) and a 115-46 faculty head-coaching document (71.4% successful share).
“What’s most exceptional [is] Michigan was a multitude, Stanford was a multitude, the Niners had been a multitude. He makes them nice, he leaves [and] there’s a noticeable drop-off in a single day,” Cowherd stated. “I believe he isn’t a coach: he’s a soul of a program.”
Harbaugh and the Chargers are off to an auspicious begin this season, getting wins over the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs in Brazil in Week 1 and on the street in opposition to the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 2.
Colin Cowherd: ‘Jim Harbaugh is the best coach within the historical past of soccer’
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